Soporific Airs (DJ Bolivia)

This is the music-related blog for Jonathan (Scooter) Clark, also known in the electronica world as DJ Bolivia, a producer and DJ from Atlantic Canada. I listen to (and produce) a lot of folk, indie, rock, and hip hop music too! I also run a company (Replant.ca Environmental) through which you can sponsor the planting of trees to build forest reserves and community forests, which are protected from commercial logging. Please visit: www.replant.ca/environmental

Showing posts with label audio technica. Show all posts

Monday, January 5, 2015

Review of the Pro 70 Lavalier Condenser Microphone from Audio Technica

My current preferred lav is the Pro 70 lavalier microphone from Audio Technica. It's a low to mid-budget microphone, not wireless, so you'll hopefully pay less than $150 for it. It's been working decently for me, so I thought I'd do a quick overview.

This isn't an overly technical review, with all kinds of lab-testing of audio recordings. I've just covered all the basics, and talked about lav mics in general. It has a reduced dynamic pickup range compared to any studio condenser microphone that you'd buy, at around 100 Hz to 14 kHz, but that's standard for a lavalier and you'll have pretty decent quality for whatever project you're working on. If you want to just watch the video review, here's the link, although I'll also include the specs of these mics further down in this blog post:

Here is the general overview of the Pro 70, taken directly from the Audio Technica website:

This miniature condenser microphone achieves full-sounding pickup and is known for outstanding consistency and dependable performance. Supplied with both a clothing clip and guitar mount, it provides natural and articulate vocal reproduction when used as a clip-on lavalier and excels in pickup of acoustic guitar. The PRO 70 is designed to make music and speech clearly and comfortably audible, yet never draw attention to itself or its operation. The microphone is equipped with a low-frequency roll-off switch that allows for reduced pickup of room noise. The versatile PRO 70 may be powered by either battery or phantom power. Its cardioid polar pattern reduces pickup of sounds from the sides and rear, improving isolation of the desired sound source.

Here is a general list of features of the Pro 70:

- Miniature condenser microphone is ideal for both vocal and acoustic guitar applications
- Natural and articulate vocal reproduction when used as a clip-on lavalier—clothing clip included
- Excels in pickup of acoustic guitar with included instrument adapter
- Cardioid polar pattern reduces pickup of sounds from the sides and rear, improving isolation of desired sound source
- Switchable low-frequency roll-off
- Corrosion-resistant contacts from gold-plated XLRM-type connector
- Operates on battery or phantom power
- 6' (1.8 m) cable permanently attached between microphone and power module

Here is a general list of the technical specifications of the Pro 70:

- Element Pattern: Fixed-charge back plate, permanently polarized condenser
- Polar Pattern: Cardioid
- Frequency Response: 100-14,000 Hz
- Low Frequency Roll-Off: 80 Hz, 8 dB/octave
- Phantom: -45 dB (5.6 mV) re 1V at 1 Pa
- Battery: -45 dB (5.6 mV) re 1V at 1 Pa
- Impedance Phantom: 200 ohms
- Impendance Battery: 200 ohms
- Maximum Input Sound Level: Phantom: 123 dB SPL, 1 kHz at 1% T.H.D. Battery: 123 dB SPL, 1 kHz at 1% T.H.D.
- Typical Dynamic Range: Phantom: 96 dB, 1 kHz at Max SPL. Battery: 96 dB, 1 kHz at Max SPL
- Signal to Noise Ratio: 67 dB, 1 kHz at 1 Pa
- Phantom Power Requirements: 11-52V DC, 2 mA typical
- Battery Type: 1.5V AA/UM3
- Battery Current/Life: 0.4 mA / 1200 hours typical (alkaline)
- Switch: Off, on-flat, on-roll-off
- Weight of Microphone: 0.3 oz (8 g)
- Weight of Power Module: 4.7 oz (134 g)
- Dimensions of Microphone: 0.98" (25.0 mm) long, 0.40" (10.2 mm) diameter
- Dimensions of Power Module: 3.27" (83.0 mm) H x 2.48" (63.0 mm) W x 0.87" (22.0 mm) D
- Output Connector: Integral 3-pin XLRM-type
- Cable: Integral 6' (1.8 m), permanently attached between microphone and power module
- Accessories furnished: AT8411 clothing clip; AT8444 instrument adapter; power module; windscreen; battery; soft protective pouch
- Audio Technica Case Style: M1

As I've mentioned, I've owned the Pro 70 for a while now and I've been pleased with it, so I figured it was worth a review.

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia. Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production? If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support! I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

YouTube: youtube.com/djbolivia

SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/djbolivia

Blogger: djbolivia.blogspot.com

Main Site: www.djbolivia.ca

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Exploring USB Microphones

I just uploaded part eleven of my Audio Recording tutorial series (and I have some additional study notes further down in this post). This series as a whole is more related to home studio work than it is to DJ'ing, covering the very basics of audio engineering and production work.

If you're just discovering this tutorial series and you want to start at the beginning, visit: djbolivia.ca/audiorecording

Audio Recording Tutorial #11: Working with USB Microphones

In this video, we examine the basic characteristics and features that you might find on many USB microphones, and the advantages and disadvantages that they have compared to traditional studio microphones.

Here are some of the pros and cons of using a USB microphone as compared to a traditional mic routed in through a sound card (I'll start with advantages for the USB microphones):
- Excellent quality is available at very competitive costs.
- USB mics are suitable for most podcasters, home musicians, music students, voiceover talent, and pretty much anyone not wanting to use the internal microphone of your laptop. USB mics even have a place in some professional studios.
- No need for a mic pre-amp.
- Condenser microphones normally need a source of phantom power. This is supplied on the USB line for a USB mic.
- Some USB mics allow for direct headphone monitoring with no latency.
- Many USB microphones have a gain control knob to adjust signal going into your computer.
- Many USB microphones offer the choice between multiple pickup patterns.
- Some of the higher-end USB mics also allow for XLR output into a traditional system.
- Some USB microphones offer variable sampling rates onboard.
- Some USB microphones have a built-in pop filter.

There are a few potential disadvantages to consider too:
- Although some USB mics will work immediately as plug-and-play devices, you may need to install drivers for others (this is the case on both PC's and Macs).
- Many DAW's will only allow for input from a single device at a time. So for instance, if you've got a USB mic plugged into your computer and you also have a sound card hooked up, with other instruments connected to your sound card, you may not be able to record through your USB mic and sound card simultaneously! This is certainly not a problem if you're working on multi-track sessions where each type of audio data is recorded individually. However, if you wanted to, for example, bring in a vocal through the USB mic at the same time as a guitar track through your soundcard, you might be out of luck!

Links relating to USB microphones:

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-usb-microphone

http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/usb-microphone-buying-guide-2

http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/mic-preamp-buying-guide

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Microphones

Here are links to a number of microphone manufacturers:

MXL